I posted this up in the Knowledge base forum, but since this is a Colorado based thread...

The Free Avalanche Awareness class schedule for the 2012-13 season from Friends of Berthoud Pass has been announced. First class is this coming Tuesday. Here is the info.

Friends of Berthoud Pass 2012-13 avalanche classes

FOBP is pleased
to continue our free series of avalanche awareness classes for the
2012-13 season. We will provide backcountry travelers with a classroom
overview of avalanche awareness, avoidance, rescue and forecasting
methods and skills.

Topics such as route selection, hazard minimization, best practices,
preparedness and terrain analysis will be covered in a 2-hour classroom
presentation.

The course is free and open to the public. Donations are kindly accepted. No RSVP is needed.

The class runs from 7:00pm until approximately 9:00pm.

Full-day on-snow sessions at Berthoud Pass will be conducted in
February 2013. You must attend a classroom presentation in order to
register for the on-snow.

I posted this up in the Knowledge base forum, but since this is a Colorado based thread...The Free Avalanche Awareness class schedule for the 2012-13 season from Friends of Berthoud Pass has been announced. First class is this coming Tuesday. Here is the info.

Friends of Berthoud Pass 2012-13 avalanche classes

FOBP is pleased
to continue our free series of avalanche awareness classes for the
2012-13 season. We will provide backcountry travelers with a classroom
overview of avalanche awareness, avoidance, rescue and forecasting
methods and skills.

Topics such as route selection, hazard minimization, best practices,
preparedness and terrain analysis will be covered in a 2-hour classroom
presentation.

The course is free and open to the public. Donations are kindly accepted. No RSVP is needed.

The class runs from 7:00pm until approximately 9:00pm.

Full-day on-snow sessions at Berthoud Pass will be conducted in
February 2013. You must attend a classroom presentation in order to
register for the on-snow.

Also, December 18th will be our fundraiser/Christmas Party at the Copper Kettle Brewery in Denver. It is a pints for purpose event. One dollar off of every beer sold will go to FOBP. Come on out and mingle with the crew.

REI's basic avy class is free. I don't think it covers as much as FOBP does. At least in the past it hasn't, but we've kind of set a standard in the metro area. I know several places were beefing up their offerings because of our course. Keep in mind that REI's course does not offer an on snow day. It's just classroom. FOBP's on snow is free, but you must attend one of the FOBP classes to be able to register for one of the two on snow days we offer.

i'm wondering if i should move it to dec 15th - would 2 weeks make any difference? (i know it is all speculative though)

It could make all the difference in the world. We could get 12" Dec 1st and then get nothing till after Xmas. There's no way to predict the weather ;)

Superorb is right. The conditions in Colorado vary greatly every year. There's really no way to plan for great conditions. We've been getting some snow it the last couple of days so we should hopefully get a good base layer down to hold the snow that falls later.

i know flights will cost me about $100 extra a person since we paid $93 roundtrip when southwest had a sale....

thx for the input

$93 round trip per person? That's dirt cheap.

yea that's why we organized it for that weekend. last day for the sale in december was the 12th.

i actually have good amount of miles on southwest but this time used cash since it was so cheap - i have never paid less than $100 to fly roundtrip anywhere (plus bags fly free).

the whole trip is about $450 a person for 3 nights in a nice house in vail with everything - flight, rent, lift tickets (3day) and cars - so i guess we are not losing that much even if the conditions are not the greatest

You may get lucky. If you get a storm cycle that starts a week or two before you arrive, it can be really fun. You can't expect the resorts to be operating at much more than half of their terrain. Though if it's snowing enough, new runs will probably be opening on a regular basis. You might score some "directed skiing". That means ski patrol will open a run for a short period, meaning all powder. They then close it once enough traffic has gone through to compact the snow. It is an avalanche mitigation and base building technique basically. Do expect core shots if you get to do this. I wouldn't be riding brand new gear at this time.

You may get lucky. If you get a storm cycle that starts a week or two before you arrive, it can be really fun. You can't expect the resorts to be operating at much more than half of their terrain. Though if it's snowing enough, new runs will probably be opening on a regular basis. You might score some "directed skiing". That means ski patrol will open a run for a short period, meaning all powder. They then close it once enough traffic has gone through to compact the snow. It is an avalanche mitigation and base building technique basically. Do expect core shots if you get to do this. I wouldn't be riding brand new gear at this time.

well even half of the terrain is great for me.....i am still debating if i should move it 2 weeks forward. i have 5 more days to change my package - need to talk to the rest of the group. for now i'm hoping for the best

Just got notice that I won a day at the US Ski Team's training center with a private tour by an Olympian for this Wednesday at Copper Mountain! That's 2 days BEFORE the resort officially opens to the public.

Just got notice that I won a day at the US Ski Team's training center with a private tour by an Olympian for this Wednesday at Copper Mountain! That's 2 days BEFORE the resort officially opens to the public.

After free lunch we get to free ride, but I'm not sure if that includes regular trails or just the ski team area. I entered a drawing on their Facebook page. The first 200 people were picked a few days ago, so I guess one of them didn't RSVP and I was next down the list.

Wife and I only ride blue runs so hopefully we don't have to ride the double black ski course. We could probably do groomed blacks, but we haven't tried is since we moved out here. I'll be on a reverse crew too so I'm gonna get my ass handed to me.

yeah, in my dreams. I'd have to rob a bank... nah, jk. I'm with a company called Melaleuca, they specialize in wellness products. my check last month was $487. all I did was share the company/products with 8 people, who signed up. anyway, that will be my bridge to Colorado, Vermont, Utah, Switzerland, and all the other cool places!

Ha! Those pics are from Cameron Pass on the South Diamond area. It is pretty good there. Probably as good as it got all of last season actually. Get your avy gear mluu and a good mode of winter (I recommend splitboards) travel, a tolerance for suffering and we can get you on some good stuff. Check out one of the FOBP classes I posted above. They contain knowledge you'll need to know out there and it'll probably help you decide if it's something you really want to get into or not. For free...

Maybe Sunday, it depends on if I can fix my wife's car tomorrow. I thought the transmission or center diff exploded but it turned out to be a crappy axle the cheap bastard put in before he sold the car to us. The thing fell apart in my hands and now half of it is stuck in the transmission. I picked up a pry bar today and I'll get medieval on it tomorrow. If we go it'll be Sunday at Copper.

Colorado Mountains Need A Ton More Snow!!!! Way behind last years poor totals. We rode Beaver Creek over Thanksgiving, only 4 runs open but at least they were ride-able. Just got way too crowded with so few runs open. Let It Snow, Let It SNOW, LET IT SNOW!!!! ....please.

We are 40% BELOW the average snow pack for this time of year. That is terrible. We moved to CO last year and have had two shitty (so far) years in a row, all the time we've been in CO. Too bad we didn't move here a year earlier for the epicness of 2010/2011.

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